Dark Eyes  

by Raine Geoghegan


when the moon is high
the air static
she hears the grey wolf
howling

she sits on the earth
her head bent over
her long hair falling into mud

the smell of her sex
mingling with that of the rich soil

once she gave birth
in a barren place
a washcloth a pitcher of water

or was it blood
so much blood
her baby silenced at birth

a grey wolf with dark eyes
licking her face
its tongue cool, abrasive

he sat with her
as she cried
long tears
his soft howling brought peace

for a long time
they were both still
then he led her back to her tribe

when he left, she cried

when the moon is high
the air static
she hears the grey wolf once more.


* * * * *

Raine Geoghegan, M.A. is a poet & prose writer of Romany, Welsh and Irish descent. Nominated for the Forward Prize, Best of the Net & the Pushcart Prize, her work has been published online and in print with Poetry Ireland Review; Travellers’ Times; Under the Radar; SkyLight47; Poethead and more. Apple Water: Povel Panni was launched in 2018 listed as a Poetry Book Society Spring 2019 Selection. They Lit Fires: Lenti Hatch O Yog was published in 2019, Hedgehog Poetry Press. Her full collection, The Talking Stick: O Pookering Kosh will be published with Salmon Poetry Press in 2022.